In wireless networks, base stations are providing service to terminals. A base station is serving one or more cells in which services are provided. One guiding principle is that a terminal is served by the cell or cells that corresponds to the most favorable radio conditions. In order to maintain an adequate cell assignment of terminals over time, the cell assignment can be altered, for example based on evaluated communication properties such as radio condition measurements.
Examples of such radio condition measurements include Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) in E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network), Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) and Received Signal Code Quality (RSRQ) in UTRAN, Reception Level RXLEV and Reception Quality RXQUAL in GERAN (GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Network), etc. In essence, the terminal measures a known waveform transmitted by the base station, and determines received signal strength and quality of that waveform.
For example, the terminal evaluates communication properties via downlink measurements of signals transmitted by the serving base station as well as other, non-serving, base stations. Examples of such measurements include radio signal strength and radio signal quality. These evaluated communication properties are reported to the currently serving base station, or some other serving radio network node such as a radio network controller or base station controller or similar.
The measurement reporting of the terminal can be configured by a serving radio network node, for example as periodical reports, event-triggered reports or event-triggered periodic reports.
The terminal can be a mobile device used for personal communication. It can also be used for machine type communication. Other examples are repeaters and relays which may act as terminals towards the base stations, while also supporting other terminals. Any kind of terminal communicating with base stations has an antenna arrangement for that purpose. Such antenna arrangement may be fixed or reconfigurable.
WO 2010/105699 describes the use of digital receive beamforming of a repeater/relay antenna beam such that it points towards the RBS and possibly at the same time suppresses incoming interference from other spatial directions.
It is a desire to provide a terminal with an improved functionality regarding assignment of appropriate serving node for the terminal compared with prior art.
The above is also applicable not only for those examples of terminals stated above, but for any two nodes that are communicating.